Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-05-20
INSTINCT and HABIT.
EFFECTS or IMPULSE ON MEN AND
ANIMALS.
HOW THE INSTINCTS OF CHILDHOOD
BECOME THE IRON-BOUND HAB'
ITS OF AGE-TRANsIENT IN
STINCTS OF INFANCY.

Henry James. IN all article III
ScyiJners Magazine on "lnstlnct,'
shows that he has given close
study to this faculty in It's various
forms as il appears in man aud
beast. After defining the word
for the purposes of his discussion
and showing that the faculty IS
present in all living beings, he
arrives at a conclusion different
from the older writer's on the sub
iect, who smOthered everything IN
a vague wonder at the clairvoyant
and prophetic power OF the AMI
mails, so superior to anything III
man, and at the benedcence OF God
in endowing them with such gilt.
He concludes tha. every instinct
is an impulse, and that man has a
greater variety of impulses than
auy lower animal, and any one of
these impulses is as "blind" as the
lowest instinct can be; but owing
to mans memory, power of reflec-
ton and power Of inference they
come each one to be felt by him in
connection with foresight of their
results. 1t is obvious that every
instinct in an animal with memory
must be accompanied with fore
sight as to its end Just so far as
that end may have fallen under
the animals cOgnizance. Thus it
is plain that no matter how we'll
endowed an animal may originally
be in the matter of instincts his
actions will be much modified if,
in addition to impulses, he have
memories. associations and infer
ences on any considerable scale.
"Young animals" says the
writer, Immediately after birth,
have no instinct of fear, but show
their dependence by allowing them
selves to be freely handled. Later,
however, they grow Wild and, if
left to themselves, will not let man
approach them. / am told by
farmers in the Adirondack wilder
ness that it is a very serious mat
ter if a COW wanders of and calves
in the woods and is not found for =
week or more. The calf, by that
time, is as wild and almost as fleet
as a deer, and hard 20 capture
without violence. But calves rare
ly show any particular wildness to
the men who have been in contact
with them during the first days of
their lite, when the instinct to at
tach themselves is uppermost, nor
do they dread strangers as they
would if brought up wild"
This leads to the law of transi-
toriness, which is this: That many
instincts ripen at a certain age,
and then fade away. A conse-
quence of this law is that if, during
the time of such an instincts
vIvacity, objects adequate to
arouse it are met with, a habit Of
acting on them is formed, which
remains when the original instinct
has passed away; but that if no
sucn objects are met With, then no
habit will be formed; and, later on
in life, when the animal meets the
objects he will altogether fail to
react, as at the earlier epoch he
! would instinctively have done. No
doubt such a law is restricted
Some instincts are far less transient
than others-those connected with
feeding and "self.preservation"
may hardly be transient at al, and
some, after fading out for a time,
recur as strong as ever, {. g., the
in stincts of pairing and rearing
young. The author cites as an ex-
ample of the habit of acting on in
stinct a Scotch terrier, born on the
floor of stable and transferred six
weeks later to a carpeted house.
When he was four months old he
would make very elaborate pre-
tence of burying things, such as
gloves, &C., which he had played
with until he was tired. He scratch
ed the carpet with his fore feet,
dropped the object from his mouth
upon the spot, and then scratched
all about it with both fore and
hind feet, if | remember rightly
and finally went away and let il
lie. Of course the act was entire
lv useless. I saw him perform il
at that age some four or five times
and never again in his life. The
conditions were not present to f'
a habit which could last when thu
prompting instinct died away. Bu'
suppose meat instead Of a glove
earth in stead of a carpet, hunger
pangs instead of fresh supper
few hours later, and it is easy t
see how this dog might have go
into habit of burying superhuou
food, which might have lasted al
his life.
9 This popularity is still NOR
noticeable in human beings. If
3 boy grows up alone at the ag
= OF games and sports, and learn
$ neither to play bali, nor row, no
sail, nor ride, nor skate, nor fsf
e nor shoot, probably he will b
sedentary to the end of his days
- and, though the best of OpportJ
mites be afforded him for leaFnin